Athlete of the Week April 4th - Derrick Calloway

BRADENTON - We're used to seeing Derrick Calloway toss around ball carriers for the Manatee Hurricanes defensive line. Now he's throwing the shot put around in championship fashion. And that makes him our ABC 7 Athlete of the Week.

Calloway will be staying close to home to play college football, as he signed to play for Manatee alum Willie Taggart at USF, but first he needs to prep for states in the shot put.

"It’s really a great opportunity to have a kid who’s such a great athlete and such a hard worker and see him succeed as he goes through this process," says Manatee track & field coach Tom Beckerleg.

Calloway is the defending state champion in the shot put, with a winning distance of 54' 2''. He just won the district title the other day, so his march to a repeat continues. "It’s a good time to take out my frustrations during the week. It’s like I put all my energy into the ball and I just throw it. That’s what I pretty much do."

It seems that whichever sport Derrick undertakes, he masters. "I definitely think so, because being in the limelight as much as you are playing football here, it prepares you for any opportunity that you see in track," says Beckerleg.

So he held the state title in the shot for 2011-2012, and he was a football state champion in the same school year -- but which is his favorite sport? "Uh, I love football. I can't...if i had to pick I would choose football.”

Congratulations to Derrick Calloway of Manatee High School. He is our ABC 7 Athlete of the Week.